Vatican City, Dec 10, 2018 / 12:01 pm
Everyone should, according to his or her specific gifts, fight to protect the fundamental rights of individuals, Pope Francis said Monday in a message to an international gathering on the topic.
"Each person is therefore called to contribute with courage and determination, in the specificity of their role, to the respect of the fundamental rights of every person," the pope wrote Dec. 10.
"Especially [the rights] of those [who are] 'invisible:' of many who are hungry and thirsty, who are naked, sick, a stranger or imprisoned, who live on the margins of society or are discarded."
"This need for justice and solidarity," he pointed out, "has a special significance for us Christians, because the Gospel itself invites us to turn our gaze to the least of our brothers and sisters, to be moved to compassion and to concretely commit ourselves to alleviate their suffering."